Updated: Chromebooks challenge netbooks

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Lookout Windows and hard-drive
makers, the Chromebook is here. The Google notebook named for its Chrome Web
browser hopes to make good on the long sought concept of the thin-client
network computer.

Google officially announced at its annual developer conference
that Acer and Samsung will begin shipping in June the systems that use only
Web-based apps and services. The systems do not need Windows or hard disk
drives.

Google will even act as a data carrier, selling to business and
education full packages of hardware, management software and services for $28
and $20 a month, respectively for a three-year contract. In the US, Verizon will provide a data plan for up to 100 Mbytes/month for free, charging extra only for users who want more data. Retailers will sell
the systems direct to consumers for prices ranging from $349 to $499.

The Chromebook aims to boot faster (eight seconds), be more
secure, easier to manage and lower cost than traditional notebooks. All the
systems initially use a dual-core Intel Atom processor.

Google founder Sergey Brin, on hand for a press Q&A
here, said in the next year he expects the majority of Google's employees will
use Chromebooks. Today they mainly use Windows 7 PCs, he said.

In an effort to limit the number of chips it must support, Google
qualified each chip in the two Chromebooks which had to pass a performance test
for the targeted OEM systems. Google has not yet decided whether it will make
its list of approved chips available.

Right now the systems only use a dual-core Atom processor.
However, the partners are considering an Intel Core i3 chip for a higher
performance desktop box being designed by Samsung and an ARM SoC for a future
lower power, ultra-thin mobile system.

The partners are concerned many current ARM SoCs may not
meet performance requirements. They are currently aiming to test a quad-core Nvidia
Tegra3 as a leading candidate.

One way the current Chromebook hardware differs from a conventional notebook is that they
require support for a hardware root of trust as part of the boot
process. They also use a unique, secure fast path for boot transactions.

One of the selling points of the systems for business users is their higher level of security than conventional PCs. The Chromebooks also have a protected file system which by design prevents download of malware.

For years, computer executives from Sun's Scott McNealy to
Oracle's Larry Ellison have pursued the dream of a simpler client computer. Whether
Google can succeed where they have failed remains to be seen, but Google
appears to be covering all the bases and the technology has matured to the level
where a Web-only system is becoming viable.

"The complexity of managing your computers is torturing
all of us--it’s a flawed model and Chromebooks are a new model that doesn’t put
the burden of managing your computer on yourself," said Brin. "Companies
who don’t use that model won't be successful," he said.

"This model doesn’t say just 'Trust Google'" with your data, Brin said, answetring a question about privacy and control. "You are using Google's Chrome browser, but you can go to any Web site out there and they can provide you great functionality--you can go to Bing search or Yahoo," he said.

At a press event, one Samsung marketing manager said the partners hope to sell a total of as many as a million Chromebooks in the first 12 months. But other execs said that such a figure would exceed their expectations.

If you are considering Chromebooks but don't want to leave your Windows apps behind, you should look at Ericom AccessNow, a pure HTML5 RDP client that enables Chromebook users to connect to any RDP host, including Terminal Server (RDS Session Host), physical desktops or VDI virtual desktops – and run their applications and desktops in a browser.
Ericom‘s AccessNow does not require Java, Flash, Silverlight, ActiveX, or any other underlying technology to be installed on end-user devices – an HTML5 browser is all that is required.
For more info, and to download the beta, visit:
http://www.ericom.com/html5_rdp_client.asp?URL_ID=708

Similar sentiments. The idea is indeed quite interesting. But a consumer who already has confusion of the middle must-have device between Laptop and smart phone, a yet another device with BOM of almost a netbook will further confuse Tablet vs netbook vs chromebook. I am wondering the statement of Pichai (Google) in article "I use an Android smartphone, a tablet and a Chromebook--they will coexist", in what situation a consumer will like to carry all 3 of them :).
I will prefer more of a hybrid possibility for my system, where i can switch to chrome mode when i want. According to Google it is already designed to remained sync. on multiple devices through chrome browser, so why not exploit it on existing laptop/netbook.

The arrival of the Chrome book is bringing back the era of thin computing ( remember those dumb Ascii terminals with green monitors connected to the main frames over Rs-232-c cables). But this thin client is way different than that dumb terminal because it is not just one main frame it is connected to , but it is the whole cloud it has access to. And it is A-la-carte as far as the choice of services you want to use from that cloud . So this is really the open world concept and not just open source. Whether Chrome itself will become successful or not is debatable but the paradigm shift it is going to bring to the marketplace will have far reaching effects on the PC and other personal hardware market.

It looks to me like a Netbook loaded with Ubuntu Netbook edition.
"The complexity of managing your computers is torturing all of us--it’s a flawed model..." may sounds a bit extreme. On one hands, to a non-techie, a regular laptop with various peripheral upgrade may be a bit too much. Yet, usually, first year experience is like first year marriage. On the other hands, to a techie, taking away all the control is indeed torturing. Let alone talking about moving most application to the cloud.
To indeed moving applications and data to the cloud, the biggest obstacle is security. How does Google give consumers peace of mind using cloud services? How does Google secure the data?
Lastly, Steve Jobs introduced iPad aiming at replacing netbook, which is revolutionary. 1+ years after, iPad is not replacing netbook; yet, it is eating netbook market. Seemingly, it is a matter of time that netbook market will shrink to a much smaller if not completely disappearing. What does Chromebook equip that is so standing out? Would you rather to have a medium to high performance laptop or a Chromebook? Would you rather have a tablet or a Chromebook? I just can't wait to see what surprises Chromebook can bring us.

Exactly my thoughts. Checking saved Gmail messages, etc. is all fine and good, but when I'm not connected, I still want my computer to have major capability -- whether that computer is a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone or an MP3 player that straps onto my wrist while I'm jogging.
To be completely dependent on the cloud makes me more than a little nervous. Sort of like renting instead of buying...

This is an exciting concept (though as you say not a new one). I'll hold out some optimism that Google has this concept at a place where it can take off. But I am concerned about what you can do when you aren't connected, even though you can use some Gogle apps, etc.

so ignoring the marketing/positioning aspects, I hope this is actually something that works...not like Android (which needs a manual agent to clean up memory leaks) or Sketchup (which is not all that stable in terms of graphics painting). Both suggest not a lot of thought or expertise went into their respective architectures.

I have to admit if my company took away my ThinkPad and issued me a Chromebook I'd feel like a second-class citizen. There is still a wealth of Windows apps and peripherals they will not be able to tap. I am sure there are expanding use cases for a Chromebook-style thin client and that it will see some success. It will be interesting to see how broad or limited that success will be in the next year or two.

I don't see this as quite as revolutionary as some folks say it is, all of the prior attempts at thin client computing aside. This will end up being very similar to any other PC where the user has decided to store their personal files in the cloud.
The Chrome book still has to have mass-storage for the browser code and all of the helper applications. It needs the ability to constantly update those helper applications and the ability to install new helper applications. It needs local mass-storage for those times when using Gmail or Google docs when disconnected.
It is a bit of a shift in where some application code is stored, but plenty of folks are using Gmail, Google docs or similar cloud capabilities now.
The N570 1.66 is an Atom as you will find in most netbooks. $349 to $499 is nothing special price-wise for a netbook. Really, what we have here is just another netbook with a small "hard disk."
That being said, installing browser helper applications seems to be easier than installing big software on your PC and your photos will be guaranteed to be all in one place - in the cloud - instead of some local and some in the cloud.
I hope Google succeeds with ChromeOS. Thirty years into the PC revolution, we still need an operating system that truly is easy to use and manage. Linux is almost, but not quite ready for prime time. Windows works well, but keeping it clean, speedy and virus-free is too big a task for far too many people.
Maybe the revolution is really more of a strong evolution in the usability of operating systems.